Drama at police post over ‘rape’ case

There was high drama at a police station in northwest Delhi's Narela, with senior police officers and activists of Arvind Kejriwal's recently-formed political party and Kejriwal himself descending on the scene, close to a week after four-year-old girl child was allegedly raped by her neighbour.

The episode unfolded after the victim's parents, who stay at the Bawana slums, approached the police with a complaint alleging that one of their neighbours, a 50-year-old, had raped the victim on November 25.

“As per law, the victim was rushed to the Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital for a medical examination, which did not confirm sexual assault and a case of molestation was registered," said an officer.

The victim's parents approached a local activist of Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), who demanded that a case of rape be registered. He later informed senior party officers.

"We tried to reason that a case of rape could not be registered since sexual assault could not be medically proven. But, since they were adamant, we registered a case of attempt to rape against the accused," the officer said.

On Saturday, Kejriwal and scores of his supporters staged a demonstration in front of the Narela police station.

BS Jaiswal, the district's deputy commissioner of police, went to the spot and the matter could only be resolved by the evening.

"Three police officials to whom the case had been assigned for investigation were sent to the district lines as part disciplinary proceedings for apparent inefficiency," the officer added.